Priory's Cheadle Royal Hospital praised by CQC for "outstanding" services

Priory’s Cheadle Royal Hospital has been rated by health inspectors as ‘good’ across the board – with services for patients with eating disorders acknowledged as ‘outstanding’.

In its latest inspection report on the hospital as a whole, the Care Quality Commission (CQC) - the independent health watchdog - said patients had praised staff for their caring attitude, the service was well-led, and staff morale across the hospital was ‘very good’.

Nothing short of ‘outstanding’

Care and treatment was in line with best practice, and the hospital had an 'open and transparent' culture. In a separate, accompanying report, solely on the eating disorders services offered to patients, inspectors said the services were nothing short of ‘outstanding’, particularly in terms of being caring and responsive.

Staff were ‘highly motivated’ and inspired to offer care that was kind and promoted the patients’ dignity, feedback from patients was ‘continuously positive’, and patients were treated with dignity, respect and compassion, inspectors said.

Innovative approaches to care

There was a strong and visible person-centred culture, innovative approaches to care, and an individualised approach taking patients’ cultural and complex needs into account, they added.

The Cheshire hospital on Wilmslow Road, a Grade II listed building, has 118 beds across 10 inpatient wards within its own private grounds, and cares for NHS and privately-funded patients. The CQC made its comments following a four-day inspection of the hospital, which included talking to patients, their relatives, hospital staff and medical directors. Other services singled out for praise by patients to the inspectors included occupational therapy and psychology services.

Praise for specialist eating disorders training programme

The health inspectors praised the fact that the hospital’s eating disorder service had developed a bespoke specialist eating disorders training programme which had been accredited by Brighton University, and the service held a consultant 'phone in' session each week where family members and carers could speak with the consultant about any issues relating to treatment.

In its report on the hospital as a whole, the CQC rated it ‘good’ across all five separate categories - safe, effective, caring, responsive and well-led – and therefore ‘good’ overall.

Safe, effective and responsive care

Nicholas Smith, the CQC’s Head of Hospital Inspection (mental health), said: "People deserve to receive treatment and care which is safe, effective, caring, well-led and responsive to their needs.

"When we inspected Cheadle Royal Hospital, we saw that staff were caring in their approach towards patients, and patients praised the treatment and care that they received. Staff were supported by strong leadership both locally and at senior management level and there was an effective governance structure embedded within the staff teams which placed a clear focus on quality improvement."

James Willis, Chief Operating Officer, Priory Healthcare, said: “Patient care is our priority and the reports reflect the huge effort made every day by dedicated and caring staff at Priory Cheadle Royal to ensure our patients receive the best possible treatment.”